Raiders, Bulldogs reach volleyball district final

CEDARVILLE — For years, DeTour’s volleyball team has been described as "scrappy," which is a sporting euphemism for hard-working but not talented enough to win.

The Raiders are still hardworking, but they showed their talent Thursday with a 25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20 win over Pickford in a Class D district semifinal win.

The Raiders split with the Panthers this season, most recently getting swept in their own gym two weeks ago.

"I don't think there was much of a difference (tonight)," Raiders coach Sara Galarowic said. "These are two such even teams, it just came to who showed up tonight."

But now the Raiders will have to dust off the old underdog role again tonight to face Rudyard, which swept Brimley 25-18, 25-16, 25-8 in the other semifinal. The final is set for 5 p.m.

"That's what these girls love, being the underdogs," Galarowic said. "They're a blue-collar bunch, that's for sure."

Senior Alyssa Anderson, the Raiders' defensive stalwart for the last few years, led the way with eight aces and got in the act on offense. She had to change her role halfway through the season from libero to a full-rotation player and responded with some good offense.

"She's a really smart player," Galarowic said. "The last few weeks she's worked really hard in the gym, and it's paying off."

Nicole Bouwma had 14 kills, seven digs and three blocks, Lindsay Grzesiek had 15 assists, Emily Bosley had 13 assists and four aces, and Hannah Reed had two blocks and two kills, all coming in the final game.

"Those were really crucial points there," Galarowic said.

Olivia Smith led the Panthers with 10 kills, eight digs, two blocks and two aces. Kelsie Rambo had eight kills, five digs and two aces, Krysta Wondergem had 10 assists, and Tessa Babinsky had seven assists.

RUDYARD 3, BRIMLEY 0: The Bulldogs made one mistake serving all night. Savannah Dugan displayed a tour de force from behind the end line in the third game with five aces during a 12-0 run to put the game away. Then she hit the net to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 23-6. They won the final game 25-8.

"It's funny that the only error we had was then," Bulldogs coach Ellen Perry said. The Bulldogs were 73 of 74 serving on the night.

Kayla Coffey played a fearless game at the net and finished with 12 kills and five blocks, numbers that don't show the immense impact she had on the game.

"The thing is, her hits are so big, we get that a lot," Perry said. "This is probably one of the most consistent matches she's had, the most aggressive. (Brimley) had a lot of hitters, they're a bit deeper than we are. My two outside hitters are about 5-foot-3."

Marissa Harrison, one of those 5-3 outside hitters, had eight kills, Dugan and Kylie Ewald had four kills, and libero Dominique Tremblay had 15 digs.

"All season long, when we've been successful, we've had really good defense," Perry said. "Dominique has been amazing. I can't have her on the floor any more than I do already. Brimley, like the Sault last weekend, was saying 'Do not hit it to the orange shirt. Do not hit it to the orange shirt.'"

Both the Bulldogs and Bays were defending district titles, with the Bulldogs moving down to Class D this season.

Tabitha Graham led the Bays with nine kills, four blocks and 11 digs. Anna Carrick had eight digs, nine assists and four blocks. Clarissa Kelley had 11 assists and five kills, Taylor Mills had 13 digs and Alyssa Recla had 10 digs."